Out Of Reach
by LeonardoTheLeader16
Summary: This is an AU story. Prince Leonardo was obliged to get marry, but he still hadn't find the one for him, that was until he meet Raphael, the pirate thief. This thief was searching for something very important in his life, but how could he do it? What will happen when he meet the prince? How will they fall in love? Leo/Raph
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Prince And The Thief

In the land far away, there was a prosperous kingdom ruled by king Yoshi named Europa, one of the 7 kingdoms in the North Atlantic Ocean. Right now the kingdom was already near winter. The orange leaves on the tree that decorated around the kingdom were truly made the land beautiful.

The kingdom was both filled with mutants and humans; they lived with each other peacefully. Some mutants were created by dark magic, some were born like that, but it was now normal to all kingdoms. All humans respected and treated the mutants equally.

King Yoshi had one son named Leonardo. The poor king lost his wife long time ago, and he never had a chance to have a child, but one day he found this baby turtle mutant abandoned in the forest. His parents were killed by the forest beast so the kind king adopted the young turtle as his own child, raising him with all his heart.

His son grew up into a handsome turtle prince who mastered in sword fights and truly destined to be a king after his father. But the young prince was obliged by his father to marry a princess so that once he did, he will become a king. The old king wanted his son to marry as fast as he could because now the king was so sick that he could pass away any moment.

Prince Leonardo wanted to accept his father's wish, but the young prince was never satisfied with the princesses his father brought to meet. Many princesses from around the world were invited by the king. They were all told to have a little chat and a dinner with the prince; the king thought that they might get along together. But Leonardo thought that those princesses were boring; they mostly have the same personality, big-headed and prideful. Some were good, but they were too quiet and shy.

The prince wanted someone that was right for him; the one with an adventurous and kind heart, mostly like himself. Although he made his father disappointed many times, he promised that one day he will find his true soul mate.

"Hello father" The young prince greeted his father who rested comfortably on his enormous bed as he entered his father's room. From the look, the prince just got back from riding around the kingdom, checking that his soon-to-be kingdom was safe from any harm. Leonardo wore a white royal cloth with a long blue cape. His sword was unsheathed in his belt. His face wore a blue mask; the colour matched his Sapphire-like blue orbs.

"My son, why do you always wear that mask?" His father smiled as his son grabbed his hand. Leonardo smirked back.

"Because it makes me look charming, father" The answer made the ill king chuckled. His voice was raspy from the illness. Once he cleared his throat, he said to his son.

"You are always charming, my son. No wonder why those beautiful princesses were all over you"

Leonardo frowned a little, "father, you know I'm not interested in those princesses. I don't feel anything towards them even though how much beautiful they are. They were truly not my soul mate"

His father nodded, "I know, my son, I understand. You shall find your own mate. I just wanted to meet your future mate before I passed away"

Leonardo gazed at his father worriedly, tightening his grip on his father's hand. "And you will, father"

"Chose the person you genuinely love, Leonardo" Yoshi patted his son's hand. "I am sure that the person you chose will bring happiness to our kingdom"

The young prince smiled. He gave his father a hug before exited the room. Outside the room he saw the royal physician walked along the hall. The doctor was also a young turtle but he was very talented in treating illness and was very expert in medicines. He was a close friend of Leonardo.

"Good evening, your highness" He greeted with a warm smile.

"Donatello, I told you to just call me Leo" Leonardo friendly patted his friend's shoulder. Donatello chuckled and hugged his long-time friend.

"As you wish, Leo, so how's the king? It's been a while since I last checked up on him"

"Still the same…" Leonardo said sadly. "Please take care of my father for me Donatello; you're the friend that I truly trust"

"I will try my best, Leo" The doctor smiled before made his way to the king's room.

Leonardo sighed and returned to his room.

The prince's room was as big as his father's. There was a large balcony that shown a good view of the kingdom below. The sunset was beautiful; it was now half the way below the horizon of the ocean. Leonardo walked to the balcony after he took off his gears, gazing the sunset. He was still thinking about his future life, about his true love that was not yet come to his life.

 _When will I finally find my true love?_

-.-.-.-.-.-

On the ocean not so far from the kingdom, a huge ship was sailing on the violent waves of the ocean. It was sailing in the direction of king Yoshi's kingdom, Europa. But the people in the ship were no merchant or visitors, they were thieves or you can say pirates.

The leader of the team named Raphael. This young turtle was very clever and skilled. From all of the weapons, he always used his Sais as his weapon of choice. He was an orphan, no family or friends, those who he called crews were not his friends. They were working for him because they saw him as a great thief.

Raphael came from the smallest kingdom from all seven kingdoms called Amalthea. It wasn't as prosperous as Europa. Since Raphael was an orphan, he struggled to live by himself since he was little. And because of his lack of money, he learnt to steal.

He has already been to six kingdoms in the North Atlantic Ocean. There was a legend about these kingdoms. Each kingdom held a part of a magical jewellery crown called _the crown of Jupiter_. Whoever got all seven parts will receive a power that no one will defeat. The turtle thief has already got the six pieces of the crown. Two of the pieces were the body of the crown. The other four he got was all jewels: green emerald, red ruby, crystal white diamond, and yellow amber. The only one that was left was a blue Sapphire from Europa.

Now that all precious pieces were stolen, the wanted poster of Raphael was seen everywhere around 7 kingdoms. Whoever caught him will be rewarded, but they must catch him alive. But with his skills, he wasn't going to let them catch him that easily…

Raphael was standing at the prow of the ship, taking the fresh breeze of the wind. The tail of his red tattered mask flew freely behind him. As a thief, he didn't have any luxurious clothes, just a white, old shirt, a red vest and trousers to keep him warm from the cold breeze. The belt around his waist held his beloved Sais.

Raphael's bright green eyes gazed at the big kingdom before him. Right now the sun was gone, darkness already consumed his surroundings. Finally, it's time to get down on business.

"Alright guys, let's get ready for our last mission!" The young turtle shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. Soon, his crews slowly walked out from their resting place and faced their leader. Most of his crews were mutants. "Xever! Turn this ship to the left and land it near the forest. No one will notice us there."

"Yes, master!" The mutant fish quickly made his way up the stairs and grabbed the wheel.

"Christopher, prepare the kingdom's map for me" Raphael ordered the black dog; he quickly went inside the ship. The young turtle then glanced at the rest of his crews "The rest of you, prepare your weapons and get yourselves ready!"

The ship landed near the forest which connected to the kingdom's village. Quietly as they could, the thieves snuck into the forest. Raphael took out the map, studying it. The castle's wall at the back was connected to mountains; the rest was connected to the kingdom's village, with only a long stone bridge connected them. There was a huge, beautiful garden at the side of the castle which located near the sea. Raphael thought of a way to enter the castle, he guessed that the sapphire must be at the highest tower of the castle. Luckily for him, the highest tower was slightly at the back of the castle, he could get to the mountain and climb the wall.

"We can't use the front door" Raphael explained to his crews. "But maybe we can sneak to the back of the castle and climb up to the top of the highest tower. The sapphire should be there"

His crews grunted in response and continued to walk. It was a long walk up to the mountain until they reached the back. Now they were standing at the back of the enormous stone castle. Raphael took out a pair of Tegaki from his bag. The others did the same and they started to climb up the tall castle as silently as they could.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Prince Leonardo was pacing in his room. It has been hours but he couldn't sleep; he felt something was wrong out there, like something bad was going to happen. Leonardo always meditates in his room, it made his mind clear, and with that, he had a little ability to sense danger. He stopped pacing and sighed.

"I'm going out" He mumbled to himself and got dressed, taking his Katana with him.

He walked pass the enormous ball room to the big garden. Right here he could mostly see all the tall towers of the castle. Sapphire blue eyes gazed around the place, those orbs fixed at the tallest tower of the castle when he saw some movement. The figure was barely seen because all he saw was a shadow figure on the other side of the tower, but the prince could see it. Someone was climbing the tower. Leonardo jaw dropped when he remembered what was in that tower.

"Guards!" He called out to the hall. Five guards ran to him, they stopped and waiting for an order. "The Sapphire tower has been intruded. We must go check it this instant!"

With that, they ran as fast as they could, up the stairs, and finally they reached the door. Leonardo put the side of his head to the door, listening for the sound from the other side. He heard the sound of someone talking.

"Finally, the last piece of the crown is mine!"

Immediately, Leonardo pushed the door open and unsheathed his blade, pointing it to the intruders. His guards stood beside him with their weapons. His eyes widened when he saw the intruders. The prince's eyes fixed at the leader of the thief, glaring deadly at him.

 **Author's note**

 **I know I haven't finished 'Nothing's gonna change my love for you' yet, but I really want to post my new story XD**

 **I'll try my best to update my last chapter for the other story too.**

 **This story was inspired by another story from Wattpad. It will contain sexual scenes in later chapter, I will give a warning. Also, If you're confused with the story, you can ask me. I tried my best not to make it too confusing. English is not my mother language, sorry if I did any grammar mistakes. ^ ^**

 **So, how is it so far? Do you like it? This is my first time writing an AU. I think it's fun to write ^ ^**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

New Path, New Feelings

Sapphire blue eyes met emerald green. Those orbs fixed on each other immovably. Leonardo's eyes were still shown anger as he stared at the leader of the intruders. What surprised him about the leader was that he was a turtle like him. There are not much such species seen around here. Other than Donatello, the prince had never seen other turtle before.

Gathering up his thoughts, the prince made several steps forward, his hands were still holding his Katana tightly. "Put that down! That Sapphire is the property of Europa. If you don't want to get hurt, leave this instant!"

"Prince Leonardo, this turtle thief is the same thief on the wanted poster around the kingdom!" One of Leonardo's guards, Leatherhead spoke up.

"I see… but he won't escape this time. Now, I order you to put that sapphire back where it belongs" Leonardo glared deadly at the intruders.

"Why should I?" The intruder's leader chuckled, eyeing the gem in his hand admiringly. "This Sapphire will help me a lot. So if you don't mind, I'll leave this place now"

The green-eyed turtle then put the gem in his bag and ran towards the window. The young prince growled and threw his Katana at the intruder; the blade hit the turtle thief's long sleeve, causing his hand immovable. The thieves saw their master in danger, they took out their weapons and attacked the prince and his guards.

The prince maybe outnumbered, but he and his guards were trained well. Once Raphael managed to take the Katana off his sleeve, he threw it away. Leonardo quickly grabbed his weapon before blocking Raphael's Sais.

"Why do you want the power of the crown so much, thief?" The prince asked while pushing Raphael away. "Don't you know that not everyone can use the crown properly? I don't even know how it works!"

"The name is Raphael!" The turtle thief growled coldly, getting back on his feet. "And I have my reason why I wanted that power! I don't care if I know how to use it!"

"You're not going away with it!" Leonardo snarled, pointing his Katana at Raphael and got in his position to fight. The thief clenched his teeth, feeling irritated, charged again at Leonardo. Their weapons crashed together powerfully.

"Who do you think you are!?" Raphael yelled at Leonardo's face.

"I'm the prince if you didn't notice!" Leonardo yelled back, swiping his feet under Raphael's, tripping him. Raphael's eyes grew wide.

"THE PRINCE!?"

Christopher, one of Raphael's crews saw that they were losing. Not asking his master first, he used all of his strength, pounding the walls and beams of the place, causing the tower to shake. Everyone looked at each other in fear.

"You fool! You want us all dead!?" Raphael growled as he tried to get back on his feet while the tower was still shaking.

"We were losing! You already have the Sapphire. Let's get out of this place!" Christopher shouted for everyone to hear and threw a rope down the tower, climbing down immediately with the other crews.

Raphael grunted in annoyance, at least he had the gem with him. He ran as fast as he could to the exit, trying to avoid the falling bricks and rubbles from above. But before he could reach the exit, a big rubble fall on him, he cried in pain as his legs were crushed by heavy stones and beams.

"Prince Leonardo, let's get out of here!" One of Leonardo's guards called him, quickly running down the stairs.

Leo nodded and followed them, but the sound of painful groan caught his attention. He searched around the room and saw the thief he fought earlier stuck in the big rubble, struggling to get out. At that moment, the prince started to hesitate. On one hand, he wanted to ignore the poor turtle under the rubble and escaped from this place as fast as he could. On the other hand, he felt pity for Raphael. That turtle was still young and still have a long life to live. It's not Leonardo's pity for the turtle that made him rushed in there and lifted the rubble off Raphael, it's his instinct told him that it's the right thing to do.

Leonardo rushed in there and moved the rubble off of Raphael. The thief watched shocked by the prince's kind heart, totally forget the pain on his leg.

Once all rubbles were removed, Raphael used his elbows to support himself, but he was useless to get up. He clenched his eyes tightly as pain started to rush through his leg. Once he opened them again, he saw someone in front of him. His eyes rose up to see Prince Leonardo reaching his hand out for him.

Raphael slowly spoke up and reached his hand for the prince's. "Why do you save me?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that I won't regret it if I did" The prince answered and pulled Raphael up on his feet. The thief suddenly winced when he supported his weight on his right leg. Leonardo quickly grasped Raphael's one arm and threw it over his shoulder, supporting the weight for him. "Let's go"

While walking as quickly as they could, Raphael saw another big stone falling from the ceiling. He immediately pulled the prince towards him, in time before the rubble fell on the prince.

Leonardo's eyes widened. He glanced at the thief surprisingly before mumbled "Uh… thanks"

"Not sure why I did that…" Raphael said without looking at Leonardo. "But now we're even"

They continued to make their way as hurry as they could to the hole that the thieves made. Leonardo looked down and saw that Raphael's crews were all gone. "Seems like your crews really care about you, Raphael"

"There's no mercy among thieves, you need to struggle by yourselves" Raphael said flatly while balancing on his good leg.

"Nice" Leonardo spoke sarcastically. "We still need to get down from here. Do you have anything useful in your bag?"

"Umm… A rope I think"

The prince dipped his hand in the bag and picked up a long rope. Thinking fast, he tied up the rope with his sword, holding it firmly and aimed it at the tree in front of him. Luckily, the prince threw his sword directly through the tree trunk. He made sure that the rope was strong enough to support both of their weights then took of his blue cape from his back, and hung it on the rope.

"Okay, hold on me" The prince commanded. Raphael's face turned into the shade of pink.

"What!?"

"You wanna live or die!?"

The thief shyly wrapped his arms around the prince. Leonardo held Raphael by his waist and then jumped off the tower. They slid down half way through the rope when the tower behind them collapsed, causing the rope to tear apart. The rope swung until they hit the tree trunk.

"Ouch! That hurts" Raphael mumbled.

"Lucky that we're near the ground now" Leonardo said, looking at the ground under him. His feet were just a few meters away. But before he could tell Raphael to release him, the rope tear apart once again from supporting their weights for too long, causing them to fall with a loud thud.

Raphael found himself on his shell; it took a few seconds for him to recover from the sudden fall. When he opened his eyes; he saw that the prince was crouching over him. He felt his cheeks started to burn when the prince's deep blue eyes stared at him.

He had heard about the prince of Europa before. He heard that the prince was skilled, talented, and the most handsome of all kingdoms, but he didn't imagine that Leonardo would be… this charming.

When you're this up close to the prince, you could see his feature more clearly. His face was so well sculpted like the god made himself. His blue eyes were so mesmerized that it could melt anyone who dared to stare at them. His tall and muscular figure was beautifully built that no one could tear their gaze off the prince's body.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Raphael snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the prince's voice.

"N-Nothing…" He replied when he found his voice again, tearing his gaze away from the prince, already forgot that he has the Sapphire with him and that all he needed to do was to run away. "You're gonna straddle me all day or you're gonna get up?"

"I'm making sure that you won't run away with the Sapphire. So handed it to me or I'll put you in the dungeon" Leonardo commanded sternly, staring dagger at Raphael.

"Like you can make me!" Raphael growled and knocking his head with the prince's, making him dizzy. He took the chance to run away, but his injured leg causing him a hard time on running. He tried to ignore the pain but his leg was just getting worst. With a sharp pain going through his leg, he stumbled and fell down. "Oww!"

When he lifted his head up again, he saw Leonardo stood in front of him, arms crossing. "You shouldn't run away when your leg is hurt like that, you'll hurt yourself"

"I can see that" Raphael mumbled to the ground sarcastically. "Why did you care anyway?"

"I'll be honest with you, Raphael" Leonardo spoke up, kneeling in front of the thief. "You don't seem like a bad person at all. You have aptitude; you're smart and strong enough to break into not only just my kingdom, but also other 6 kingdoms. Why don't you use your ability on something useful? You need to choose your own path, Raphael, and choose it carefully"

After his speech, Leonardo grabbed Raphael's bag and took out the blue sapphire. Raphael didn't say anything; he was still in his own thoughts. He decided that today was enough for him, no more actions. When he tried to stand up, his legs shook violently. He was surprised when he felt arms supporting him.

"Just think about it, okay?" Leonardo smiled at him, patting Raphael's shoulder. "I know you're a good guy, I saw goodness in you"

Raphael stayed silent, didn't know what to answer. He didn't dare to stare at the prince's gentle gaze. When the prince knew that Raphael won't answer, he started to walk back to his castle. Before that, he turned around and said

"My name is Leonardo by the way. Good luck finding your own path, Raphael"

-.-.-.-.-.-

When Raphael got back to his ship, his crews were already there, talking about nonsense. None of them even care about his injury when their leader walked into the place. They even complained about Raphael losing the sapphire, but he didn't care about anything right now, he went straight to his room and lie on his hammock, pondering about the moment earlier.

He was so confused about his feelings right now. True, he was disappointed that he couldn't get the last piece of the crown, but the other feeling… it was strange. He never felt this feeling before. Whenever the charming face of Prince Leonardo came in his mind, he felt butterflies in his stomach. His chest tightening like someone twisted his heart.

Raphael was amazed by the prince's kindness. Leonardo could have easily put him in the dungeon, but he let him go… and that speech… it made the thief's mind flow like a violent river.

But still, Raphael needed that last piece of the magical crown. The Prince wouldn't understand his reason, no one would understand him. The truth is… Raphael even lied to his crews just to get them help him stealing the crown pieces. He wished that his crews won't find out about this.

He wrapped his leg with new white bandages. He was so lucky that his leg didn't break back there, it would heal in several days.

He let his mind blank before went to sleep. He will decide what to do tomorrow.

 **Author's note**

 **I still can't think of the ending for my other story… I have an idea, but I still need time to arrange those ideas. Right now I have a lot of ideas for this story!**

 **But I promise I will finally update my last chapter :)**

 **lieke,wiersema: Thank you! I'm glad you like it and I will totally continue this story. ^ ^**

 **flikaroo: Thank you so much! I had tried my best :)**

 **tmntlover2013: Glad you like it ^ ^ I'll find some time to update!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Trust

Raphael woke up to see that his crews were all awake. The weather was bright today, the cool breeze of autumn softly blew across his face. He breathed in lungful of fresh morning air, feeling delighted, but soon that feeling faded when he felt his crew's eyes on him.

Emerald green eyes gazed around; everyone was staring coldly at him. Feeling ashamed, but not wanting to show it, Raph stood there awkwardly, waiting for someone to speak up. He knew they were upset of him that didn't take the gem with him, and that they needed to get back there again.

"So, what do you want us to do now, master?" Xever asked bluntly from his left side, laying crossed-legs comfortably on his hammock. Raphael took a deep breath.

"I have a new plan and it's gonna work this time" Raphael said confidently, crossing his arms. His crews looked at each other curiously before ended up at their leader. "I wanted ALL of you to go to Callisto and steal the most poisonous potion for me"

The crews looked at their master confusedly. Callisto was one of the seven kingdoms, this land was famous about medicines and potions. Stockman, one of the crews asked "And what do we need it for, master?"

"The prince and his guards are too skilled for us to combat, so I might as well eliminate all of them" said the leader of the thieves deadly. Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, their master never killed anyone during their tasks before.

"You want to kill them!? What if we got caught!?" Christopher asked.

"We will poison them without letting no one see us, maybe a poison dart or whatever. Then we will sneak in again to get the sapphire. When the power of the crown is ours, what should we be afraid of?" Raphael asked, crossing his arms with the biggest smirk on his face.

The others looked at each other worriedly, but finally decided that their master was right. They nodded to Raphael, confirmed the thought.

"And… you're not coming with us?" Xever asked.

Rapahel went silent for a moment. He hated lying, but it was necessary.

"No, you guys go on your own. I'll stay here to explore the kingdom, the more I know about this kingdom, the more we approach the sapphire" His crews didn't protest his order, now it was his chance. "Oh, and this ship stays here, you guys go steal any of Europa's ship around the docks. I wanted all the crown pieces here with me"

His crews groaned annoyingly like a child. When Raphael glared at them, they zipped their lips and started to scatter away. When all of them were off the ship and went to the kingdom's dock, Raphael went in his room and grabbed his old, white, hooded cape. He didn't want anyone in this kingdom saw him and captured him to the royal guards. Once he put on his hood, he ran out of his ship and went straight to the castle.

 _I must see Prince Leonardo again_

On his way to the castle, a thought came on his mind. _I must be crazy to think that the prince would like to talk to me again. I mean… he's a prince! And I'm just a thief! And the percent of seeing the prince is really low. He might be patrolling in his kingdom or doing whatever princes do right now… but maybe I should just take a visit, I might be lucky…_

As Raphael walked in the forest, he heard horse footsteps around him. He immediately hid behind a big stone as the sound approaching him. Suddenly, a deer jumped over the stone he was hiding. It ran quickly as it could deep in the forest until it was out of his sight. His attention then went back to the horse behind him. Still hiding behind the stone, he peeked out a little to see what's going on. He saw five white horses with their riders on their back in front of him. By the rider's clothes, he could tell that they were all from the palace.

"Prince Leonardo, it seems that the stag has gotten away" One of the riders said. The prince's name got Raphael's attention. Lucky seemed to be on his side today…

"It's okay, we'll hunt it again tomorrow. All of you go back to the castle, I wanted to stay here alone a little more. The weather today is so pleasing" The prince said, he was wearing a blue hood over his head.

"Yes sir"

Raphael watched the guards rode their horses away. Leonardo got off his horse and slowly took his hood off.

The sunlight that shone through the trees illuminated the prince's form. Unlike that night, the prince looked more charming under sunlight. His handsome face showed happiness as he breathed in morning fresh air. His bright blue eyes was so blazing that it shone clearly through the yellow light. The young turtle thief's eyes never left the prince, he felt butterflies in his stomach again, just like last night.

Suddenly an arrow was shot at him, he quickly snapped out of his thought and dodged the arrow. He glanced at the prince again to see that he has a bow in his hand.

"Who's there!?" The prince questioned, pointing his arrow again.

Raphael's feeling earlier was all disappeared. He hid behind the big stone again and let his mind ran. _What am I doing!?_

At that moment, Raphael's evil side took over him. _The prince was now alone, his guards were gone… this is a good chance to get rid of him… yeah that's a good idea…_

Grabbing his Sais from his belt, Raphael jumped over the stone and attacked the prince. Frightened, Leonardo shot his arrow at the attacker, but Raphael dodged it again. Leonardo quickly unsheathed his blade and fought back. Since they were both skilled, it's hard to tell who's better than who, but Raphael got the upper hand because of his strength. The prince lost his balance, giving a chance to Raphael to press him against the tree. The turtle thief pointed his Sai at the prince, just a few inches away from his face.

But Leonardo didn't show any fear at all.

Even when his life was in the hands of Raphael. Instead, the prince stared directly into Raphael's eyes, crossing his blue orbs. The thief started to hesitate, just one move, he could kill the prince. But is that what he wanted?

"I know you're not going to kill me, Raphael" Leonardo knew who it was by the attacker's blazing green eyes. "After what happened yesterday, I think I have changed your mind"

Raphael clenched his teeth. _Smug prince!_ The turtle thief thought as he stared at the prince.

Sighing in defeat, Raphael took a step back and released Leonardo, turning his back at the prince, and sat down on the big stone, face down.

"I don't even know what to think right now" Raphael spoke softly, almost a whisper. The prince smiled a little.

"Everyone has that moment in their lives, it's not easy choosing your own path. It's part of growing up" Leonardo stated confidently, slowly walking towards Raphael since he knew the thief wasn't going to attack him anymore. "I still have a big decision to do too. You know, prince's stuffs: learning to rule the kingdom, marriage, finding a mate" Leonardo chuckled to himself. "But actually none of the princesses interested me. My father was kind of annoyed by that"

Raphale chuckled, feeling strange that the prince talked to him like a long time friend.

 _Why is he being so nice to me?_

He glanced to the side when he felt the prince sat next to him. Raphael never talked to anyone about his life before, but since the prince was here to listen. He was gladly to share his emotions. "My biggest goal in my life was to get all the crown pieces and use it, but now I-I'm n-not sure that I wanted to do that anymore"

"Many people wanted the power of the crown, may I ask you why you wanted it so much?"

Raphael froze. "I have my own reason, a-and this reason is so important to me"

"If you don't tell me, how could I help you?"

The young turtle tilted his face at the prince in surprise. "You want to help me?"

The prince smiled. "Of course, it's my duty to help the desperate"

Raphael's mind ran like a fierce river. At first, he thought that he would just ask for the sapphire and use it for just one simple reason, but the prince wouldn't trust him for sure, they just met and Raphael was no other than just a thief. But if the prince could help him like he said… he wouldn't need that sapphire or the crown anymore. But how could the prince help him, he couldn't even do it himself? Only the power of the crown could help him… but if he told the prince, he would have a friend… no… an acquaintance to help him.

"Your reason must be so personal that you don't want to tell me, am I right?" Leonardo interrupted his thoughts. Raphael shook his head.

"Not really… b-but you wouldn't understand…"

"It's okay, Raphael. I don't want to rush you" Leonardo spoke softly. "So… what are you going to do now?"

"What do you think I should do?" Raphael asked quietly.

The prince stared at the young turtle sentimentally, he understood Raphael's situation. He always hated to see other people suffer from any kind of pain. And Raphael's pain must be bitter. Leonardo sat there for a moment before he got an idea. This idea might help this pitiful turtle, and maybe Raphael would tell him his secret finally.

"Raphael, I really wanted to help you, but since you still don't want to tell me. Let's get to know each other more so you would trust me" Leonardo suggested, smiling at Raphael. The prince felt like he should help this turtle. He had a feeling that if he helped him, something good will happen. "How about I show you around the kingdom?"

"Y-You serious?" Raphael was no doubt, shocked. The prince of Europa just asked a low class thief like him out on a walk without hesitation.

"Of course, I want to know more about you" The prince smiled widely.

"You don't have any 'price duties' to do?"

"Nah, I can manage my time" Leonardo stood up and gestured Raphael to do so. "Come on!"

Raphael studied the prince closely, trying to find any tricks. The prince could capture him and threw him into the dungeon or called the guards to do it for himself. But the prince's reaction was totally the opposite, he might really wanted to help him…

"I'll give you time to decide" The prince spoke kindly as he mounted his horse and put his hood back over his head. "Meet me at the village's entrance in half an hour if you want to"

As the price rode away, Raphael was still sat immovable on the stone. He chuckled to himself. _Leonardo is so nice to me… I've never met anyone like him before… If we trust each other, maybe I don't need that crown anymore…_

After a long moment, Raphael stood up and went straight to the village's entrance.

 **Author's note**

 **Sorry for the long hiatus, I was having a lot of works and exams, but now I think I can make slow updates from now on :)**

 **flikaroo: I imagined Leo like Disney's princes XD**

 **Insanity21: Thanks. I love Leo too!**

 **tmntlover2013: Thanks for the review ^ ^**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Little Steps of Friendship

Leonardo was waiting at the village entrance for almost thirty minutes, looking around for any signs of Raphael but he was nowhere in sight. The prince tried to blend in with the crowds, putting his hood over his head again. He didn't want any villagers to recognize him right now. Leonardo sighed when it was already thirty minutes. Disappointingly, he slowly made his way back to his castle.

"So… where should we go first?"

A familiar voice behind him made the prince turned around. He smiled as he saw Raphael walked towards him; he also had a hood on. The prince hoped that it was enough for Raphael to conceal himself from the villagers and royal guards. "I thought you won't come"

"I kind of… changed my mind" Raphael spoke slowly. There was a few moment of silence before Raphael spoke again. "Why you are so interest in me?"

"I told you before, I saw goodness in you" Leonardo smiled so warmly that it made Raphael's face heated. "So, do you want to tell me why you steal the crown pieces?"

"And I've told you before… I have my own reason" Raphael said, rage started to fill his mind.

"Never mind, never mind…" Leonardo raised his hands up, not wanting Raphael to explode right now.

Something in his mind told him that why did he want to help Raphael in the first place. He was just a hot head, aggressive, young thief. But then again, the other part of him told Leonardo that it was the right thing to do.

He cleared his throat. "Well, that's why I brought you here, to make you trust me" Leonardo reached out and put his hand on the other's shoulder. Raphael glanced up; the prince's expression was so sincere. Hesitantly, Raphael decided that if he will ever get what he wants, he should trust the prince.

"Alright"

Leonardo smiled gladly. He gestured Raphael to follow him to the village. "Come on, I'll show you around. The village is so festal at this time"

Raph sighed as he watched Leonardo led the way. He followed the prince while still beware of the people around him. Leonardo led him until they entered the village. The prince proudly introduced his kingdom to the thief, opened his arms wide to the village's direction. "Welcome to Europa's village!"

Raph gazed passed Leo, looking at the enormous village in front of him. His eyes widened, mouth dropped, totally mesmerized by the sight. Raphael never had seen any place like this place before in his life. "Whoaaa"

The village was crowded by the villagers who do their everyday routine, selling, buying, and walking hurriedly through the people. The houses were on each side of the stone road, made from woods and bricks, decorated beautifully with colorful vines and flowers. Raphael noticed that every house has a blue banner with the yellow kingdom's symbol decorated around the place. Truthfully, the sight was so amazing for the young thief.

"This place is so amazing!" Raphael exclaimed as his eyes traveled around the place excitedly. A smile formed on his lips.

Leonardo's eyes widened a little when he saw that smile. For the first time since he met Raphael, he finally saw his smile. It was like he already forgot that Raphael was a deadly thief, he only saw a young and bright turtle with a genuine smile. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the smile spread across those beautiful lips.

"Hey… why are you staring at me like that?"

The prince quickly tore his gaze away from Raphael and cleared his throat. "N-Nothing… um, what do you mean by what you said? You never saw a place like this?"

Raphael gazed down and answered "Not really, I've only visited the other kingdoms at night to… you know, stealing stuffs. Where I came from was not anything like this…"

Leonardo nodded perceptively. He wondered whether if Raphael had any memorable experiences in his life because if he didn't, Leonardo will absolutely help him with that today. "You've seen nothing yet. Follow me, I'll show you the place"

Raphael grinned even more, feeling most excited. He followed behind the prince closely. It's weird for Leonardo to see Raphael, one of the most dangerous thieves around here, in such a soft state, like a child who just learnt new experiences. Leonardo assumed that Raphael just acted tough so that his crews will be scared of him, and that they will follow his orders. Literally, Raphael was just an innocent young turtle who was still confused about his own feelings.

Leo got his mind off of that thought temporarily and focused on Raphael who was standing beside him right now. He brought Raphael deeper into the village, satisfied that the young turtle enthusiastically looking around the village with excited eyes.

The first place the prince wanted Raphael to see was his friend's bakery. The shop owner was a young lady around his age who has a great talent on cooking. This bakery's best menu was a chocolate flavored cupcake which was one of the prince's favorites. The prince walked into the shop, telling Raphael to wait outside.

April was the shop owner. She was serving several cakes for a rick-looking family at the corner. Her red hair was tied up in a bun, some was covering her fair skin face. Her hair was covered with a yellow headband. She wore a yellow and white dress with a brown apron on the front. She turned around to the shop's entrance when she heard the footsteps.

"Oh hello, mister! Please take a seat" She greeted the man with a bright smile while brushing strands of hair from her face. The teenage girl walked towards the man in order to lead him to the empty seat, but when she looked closely at the man, she gasped loudly. "You- You're-"

"Shhh" The prince put his finger at his lips. April closed her mouth, looking around the place to make sure that no one noticed her. She giggled softly.

"Um… good to see you, your highness" She bowed for the prince a little, not risking for her costumers to notice the prince. "May I ask you what are you doing here in the village?"

"Just want to grab some of my favorite sweets before going back to the castle" The prince said playfully. April chuckled. "You're a great cook, April"

"I'm so grateful, young prince. I appreciate your compliment. So… Chocolate cupcake, am I right?"

"You know me too well" Leonardo snickered, dipping his hand into his pocket to grab some money. "I'd like ten please"

"You will eat all of them alone?" April smirked, crossing her arms.

"I have my new friend here with me, I bet he will love your cupcakes"

"Thank you so much, your highness. My bakery is famous thanks to you" April grinned, politely taking the money from the prince.

"Nah, it's nothing. I'd do anything to make everyone in the village live happily"

April chuckled. "That's why everyone loves you"

The prince smiled shyly; nonetheless, accepted the compliment heartily. She walked back into the kitchen. A few moments later, she came back with a bag full of her delicious sweets. She thanked the prince again before get back to work.

The prince walked out of the shop and went to search for Raphael outside. Leonardo gasped shockingly when he couldn't find Raphael anywhere. Panic, he looked around the crowded village. Finally, he sighed in relief when he noticed Raphael's red hood. He was mingling with the villagers, watching a magic show. Leonardo shook his head playfully and walked to Raphael.

"I thought you were lost, Raphael" Leonardo smirked, but Raphael didn't listen to him. Instead, he focused on the show in front of him, gasping shockingly when the performer pulled a flower out of nowhere.

"How did he do that!? Is he a wizard!?"

"It's called magic tricks" Leonardo was surprised by Raphael's little knowledge about the world. He was the thief that already broke into 6 kingdoms to steal the most powerful thing in the world, yet he hadn't seen such childish thing as magic tricks. The prince guessed that where this young turtle came from must have been a very sorrowful place, or maybe he didn't have parents… an orphan? These are the questions the prince wanted to solve, and that made him more curious about Raphael. "Hey, I brought you some snacks"

Raphael left his gaze from the show and turned to the prince. "W-What?"

"I think you'll like this. This is my friend's best dessert!" Leonardo picked up a cupcake from the bag and handed it to Raphael, but the turtle in red just stared shockingly at the prince.

"You bought it for me?"

"Yes"

"Uh-"

"Don't worry about the price. Look at me, I'm a prince!"

"It's not that, I- um… no one ever gave me anything for a long time…" He rubbed his neck awkwardly, gazing anywhere except the prince.

"You don't have to tell. Until you trust me, please take this… as our first friendship" Raphael forced himself to take a glance at the prince and see that those bright blue eyes staring warmly to him. The young turtle slowly reached out and grabbed the bag from the prince. Raphael shivered lightly when their hands brushed against each other. Blushed a little, he finally picked up a cupcake in his hand.

"What is this?" He asked as he studied the sweet closely.

"Chocolate flavored cupcake, never had one before?" Leonardo felt stupid for asking that question.

"No" Raphael shook his head. He leaned in, smelling the sweet smell of the cupcake before took a bite. Raphael's eyes widened when the first taste of sweetness of chocolate and sugar hit his tongue. "Wow! This is so delicious! I never had anything like this before in my life!"

Leonardo smiled. The sight almost made him forgot that this young turtle was a deadly thief. Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, he thought that Raphael was very cute. The young turtle finished his cupcake in just a few seconds.

"Umm… Leonardo? You're staring at me again" Raphael's voice snapped the prince out of his thoughts. The prince blushed and cleared his throat.

"Oh! Uh- I-I'm fine" He said, tearing his gaze away. "Just um… there's chocolate on your lips"

"Oh" Raphael then wiped them away.

To make the situation less awkward, Leonardo handed all of the cupcakes to Raphael. He thought that it would be better if he let this poor turtle have proper food for once. "Take it all. You need it more than me"

Raphael smiled as he reached his hands out; he hesitated slightly, looking at the prince. Leonardo just smiled brightly at him and gestured him to take it.

"I never say this to anyone for a long time but… thanks" He slowly said as he grabbed the bag from Leonardo.

"You're welcome" Leonardo spoke, turning around to the other direction and smiled when he thought of the next place he wanted to introduce to Raphael. "Let's go, shall we?"

Raphael nodded violently and walked side by side with the prince with his mouth full of chocolate, feeling less awkward than before.

 **Author's note**

 **I finally find some time to update. Man, these assignments are making me crazy!**

 **I already have an idea for the whole story, just need to find time to write them -.-**

 **tmntlover2013: I will try to find some time ^ ^**

 **leo13: I will try!**

 **Insanity21: Please don't explode XD**

 **Wolfy5678: Thanks! It's so fun writing these two together and there will be a lot more to see! XD**

 **flikaroo: I can't wait to write all of the chapters. There will be a lot more happen, more characters and romances!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Look in Your Eyes

"From all the places, you bring me to a library?" Raphael complained as him and Leonardo stood in front of the kingdom's library. This library was pretty huge; few people were in the library, reading and borrowing books. The place was built with oak woods, decorated with vines that grew up to the top of the building. Raphael also noticed the familiar blue banner decorated at the door frame.

Well, he wasn't impressed about Leonardo's choice, he was never fond of reading at all. But the prince seemed to be excited to introduce the place to him. Raphael had heard before that Leonardo was a very intelligent and talented prince; it was not strange at all if the prince loved to read, to Raphael's disfavor.

"Come on, who doesn't love reading" The prince nudged Raphael's side playfully.

"I don't" Raphael replied bluntly, crossing his arms, wanting to go to another more interesting place, but the prince grabbed his arm and dragged him inside as he pulled his hood closer so that no one could see his face.

"Don't be a fool, Raphael. I'll show you how fun reading is!"

Raphael sighed and groaned in defeat. Part of him was glad that he could spend more time with the prince. He also wondering that why was Leonardo looked so enthusiastic, hadn't he done this before? Did he have any other friends to share something like this with?

"You sound so excited, Leonardo. Have you ever brought someone here with you before?" The question slipped from Raphael's mouth before he could stop it. He was too curious to shut his loud mouth.

"Actually no." The prince's expression softened, he released Raph's arm as they entered the library. "My father kept me in the castle all the time when I was younger. I never really made any friends, except for the royal doctor that came here once in a while to take care of my father, he is a nice guy, a turtle like us. As I grew up, I begged my father to let me explore the kingdom. He disagreed at first, but finally let me. It's kind of important though, you know, being a prince, and the future king. I need to know my kingdom"

Raphael smiled slightly. The prince of Europa had never hang out with friends before, it reminded if himself. His crews weren't the one you wanted to hang out with. He mostly spent his time alone.

"You are actually the first friend I hang out with, Raphael"

Raphael snapped from his thoughts suddenly, looking at Leonardo. "Friend?"

"Yeah, I think we could be friends" The prince grinned widely. Somehow, Raphael felt his cheek burns when that smile was sent to him. He flushed even more when the prince grabbed his hand, and brought him deeper in the library. "Come here, I like reading these books"

Leonardo brought him to the astronomy section. He picked up one large, black book, and brought it to the table where Raphael sat waiting for him. When he saw the book, he groaned boringly. The prince chuckled lightly and sat down beside him.

"It's not as boring as you think" He said as he opened the book. Raphael rested his chin on his hand, staring at the book with bored eyes. "I love astronomy, who knows there are billions of stars and planets out there. It's amazing, don't you think?"

"Yeah…" Raphael mumbled. He didn't understand how astronomy is interesting. For most of his life, he lived in his ship in the big ocean. He was more of a sea person.

As the prince started to explain about the solar system, Raphael tilted his head to the side curiously when he saw the picture of many different planets. His brow rose up curiously.

"What are these round thingy?"

"They are planets" Leonardo explained, smiling when Raphael started to get interest in this book. "We are here, this beautiful blue and green planet. The other planets are Mercury, nearest to the sun. This is Venus, the second one, size as big as our planet…."

Raphael moved a little closer to the prince so that he could hear and see him explain different planets better. His eyes followed the prince's finger as Leonardo started to explain about Jupiter.

Jupiter? That name was familiar… Raphael's eyes widened when he remembered. It's the name of the crown. The crown of Jupiter. As his curiosity grew more and more, he slowly interrupted the prince. "Is the crown of Jupiter got its name after this planet?"

"Oh, you noticed, and yes, it was named after Jupiter. And if you study about Jupiter more…" Leonardo turned the page quickly, finding the title he searched, Jupiter. "You'll see that all 7 kingdoms were named after Jupiter's moons too, see?"

The thief leaned in. He saw 4 big moons with different sizes and colors, the other moons were small compared to the big ones. The prince watched as Raphael studied the pictures, resting his arms comfortably on the wooden table. His eyes wandered to the book, staring at Europa. He always thought that Europa was a beautiful moon. The surface was covered in layers of icy-blue ice, and red stripes all over the area.

"Look at Europa… it's so beautiful, just like my kingdom" The prince said softly with little pride in his voice.

"Yeah, it looks like a ball of cheese"

The prince's brow creased, not because he was offended. "Um… I think you're talking about Io, not Europa"

Raphael gulped a little. "Oh…"

"The names are under the pictures, can't you see? Or you can't read?" The prince chuckled quietly. It was meant to be just a playfully tease, but when he saw the younger turtle's scowled face, his smile faded. "O-Oh… y-you ca-"

"Yeah, I can't read. Go on, laugh" Raphael turned his face away, crossing his arms annoyingly.

Leonardo frowned sadly. Why didn't he think of that before? This poor turtle probably had no education or just little. The prince stared down, finding a way to apologize. A smile formed on his lips when he thought of a way. "Hey… maybe I could help you with that. If you want"

"Reading sounds boring" Raphael complained.

"Just give it a try"

Raphael sighed heavily, putting his head against the table. Why did I agree to come here in the first place! Finally he mumbled out "Fine"

The prince smiled, getting up from his seat. "Wait here, I'll get an easier book to read"

The younger turtle just groaned in response. The little knowledge he had about reading wouldn't help him much this time. One of the words he was sure to spell correctly was his name, which was good enough for him. Leonardo came back with a much thinner book in his hand.

"This is a fairy tale. Most fairy tales has a story about royalties, magic, something like that. It's fun to read, my father used to read to me when I was little" Leonardo explained as he sat down, placing a colorful book in front of Raphael.

The prince started to open the book, but he stopped. He tapped his chin thoughtfully before closed the book. "I better teach you about the alphabets first, do you have knowledge about this?"

"Just the one that spelt my name"

"That's alright. Don't worry, it's not that hard" Leonardo assured him with his bright smile.

Raphael sighed in defeat one last time before agreed to let the prince teach him. The first thing he learnt was the alphabets, there were 26 of them. Leonardo taught him about how each of them was pronounced. With the little knowledge he knew, he was able to remember it all. Raphael was surprised by the prince's enthusiasm to teach him; his smile never faded as he taught, and once in a while glanced at Raphael to make sure that he got it all right.

Something strange in Leonardo's eyes caught Raphael's attention. _What did I just see…? His eyes… they are so full of… What does it call…? Forget it, I can't remember… but it makes me feel so… warm inside…_

He snapped out of his thoughts when the prince started to open the first page of the book.

The book Leonardo brought to read for Raphael was called 'Snow White and the seven dwarfs' according to Leonardo since Raphael wasn't sure about his knowledge in reading. The prince said that it was children's fairy tale that parents usually read to their kids as a bedtime story. Raphael felt a little uncomfortable reading a children's book.

"It's true that it's for kids, but adults still read them too, you know? It's entertaining" The prince explained.

Raphael just hummed in response.

"Come on, let's get started" Leonardo said as he opened the book. "Here, try to read the first sentence for me. Can you do it?"

Raphael stared at the first word of the paragraph. It spelt 'O-n-c-e.' Raphael thought about what the prince taught him earlier. "Um… O-On-ce…? Once?"

"Hey, you got it! Try the next one" Leonardo ginned widely.

The younger turtle rolled his eyes; nonetheless, he looked down at the book again. He tilted his face to the side confusedly. "Uh… u-pon?"

Leonardo tried to control his snicker. "You almost got it right. You see, the U here doesn't pronounced like normal U, but it's 'uh'"

"So it's 'upon'?"

"Yes"

"Once upon a time?" Raphael read the whole words by himself.

"You learn fast! Good job!" Leonardo patted his shoulder proudly. The younger turtle smiled, feeling a little proud and confident building inside.

For the rest of the story, Leonardo read it for Raphael, but he let the younger turtle read it himself too when the vocabulary wasn't too complicated. It turned out that Raphael could read some by himself. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he started to find reading quite entertaining. The story that the prince chose for him was surprisingly fun to read, even though it was a children's fairy tale.

"No! Did she just die!?" Raphael gasped when Leonardo narrated to the part where Snow White ate the poison apple.

"Yeah, but that's not the climax yet. Here, let me continue" The prince chuckled warmly, opening the next page. Before his eyes could lay on the next paragraph, something caught the corner of his eyes; he looked out the window and saw that the sun was almost down. They had been reading in the library for many hours. Time flew so fast for both turtles. "Oh my…"

"What?" Raphael frowned, wanting Leonardo to read the next part for him.

"It's very late now… I-I should head back to the castle. My father will kill me if I return home after sunset" Leonardo glanced at Raphael, who frowned in disappointment.

After they returned the book, they exited the library. There was an awkward moment between the two turtles. The prince wanted to head back as quickly as he could, but his feet wouldn't move. He looked back and saw Raphael was too, standing like a statue. Leonardo opened his mouth to say, but nothing came out. Luckily, Raphael cut the silence. Leonardo could see Raphael's breath from the cold air.

"So… are you free tomorrow?"

It seemed like the younger turtle was shocked of what he said, but he didn't care, he wanted to see the prince again. After a short silence, he got an answer. "Of course.. Meet me at the same place"

Smiling gently, Raphael started to walk away, but a hand grabbed his shoulder, making him turn around. The prince took off his hooded-cape and softly wrapped it around the younger turtle, over his old tattered one.

"It's cold at night, you might get ill" The prince's voice was warm and tender. His eyes filled with… _care._

Soothing warmth spread through his shivering body, but it was not just the cloth that made his face heated. Raphael replied in a quiet, almost shy tone. "Thank you…"

The prince responded with a smile, and walked back to his castle. Raphael didn't take his eyes off the prince until he was out of the sight.

The journey back to his ship felt strangely long. His mind only wandered to the prince, his charm, his kindness, his smile, his everything. He didn't even notice when his shell hit his hammock. Staring blankly at the ceiling, he let his mind pondered over the day's experience.

He never had fun like this since… a long time ago. Frowning at the memory, he let his mind blank again, tightening the warm cloth around himself. When the cloth was near his nose, he could smell the unique scent of Leonardo. The sweet smell of green tea and fragrance felt so refreshing.

His lips curved up into a small smile as he slept peacefully.

 **Author's note**

 **Finally I have time to write the next chapter and update! Well, actually I already have an idea for the whole story. I write a draft for each chapter before I type it out. Now I can make it up to 15 chapters… I think it may end around chapter 20. So… be patient guys… I'll still be updating once in a while.**

 **ChangedMyLife4U: I'm so sorry for the long hiatus… I promise I will finally finish this story ;w;**

 **Wakizashi Warrior: When I re-read the story. I also think like that… Well… I still need to improve my skills XD**

 **tmntlover2013: Thank you!**

 **flikaroo: I'm also having fun creating the village and the kingdom. I even draw some of it to get a better image.**

 **Insanity21: There will be more cuteness for sure XD**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sun After Storm

In the middle of the night, a sudden storm came out of nowhere, causing violent waves in the ocean. There, the stolen ship that carried Raphael's crews was still heading to Callisto for the purpose of obtaining a deadly poison for Prince Leonardo according to Raphael's order.

The crews gathered inside the ship to hide from the strong wind. To make things less boring, Christopher the mutant dog brought up a conversation.

"My fellow allies, I think it is time to discuss about something that has been bothering me since we departed from Europa"

The other crews stayed in silence, waiting for the dog to continue.

"Ever since Raphael met that spoiled prince, he acted strangely don't you think?" Christopher received nods from his allies. "If you ask me, I think the whole thing of making us go to Callisto is just his plan to send us away so that he can continue his plan alone and use the crown's power by himself… now that he almost has all of the crown pieces."

"I agree with you. I always doubt he will share the power of the crown with us," spoke Xever. "He was just using us to help him get what he wants. How could we be so stupid?"

"'Cus he's a smart turtle, that's why," Stockman replied. "Persuading us into this shit. Are we going to do anything about this? We'll just let him get the power only for himself?"

The mutant dog stood up and paced around the room. A smile crept on his face when an idea popped up in his mind. He reached inside his shirt and took out a necklace, a necklace with a strange foot-like symbol on it. "I think I know someone that can help us, but now we need to change our destination."

-.-.-.-.-.-

On a ship in the very same stormy night, Raphael was wide awake as loud thunder prevented him from sleeping. He was lying on his old hammock wrapped in the cape Leonardo gave him earlier. Other than that, the only thing that gave him heat was a lamp beside him. In the dim light, the young turtle looked fondly at the picture inside his locket necklace, a small smile formed on his face as he thought of old happy memories he had as a child.

With a sigh, he closed the locket and put it back under his shirt. He pulled the warm blue cape up a little bit more as the night got colder.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning was as bright and shiny as it could be.

Prince Leonardo wandered through the forest as usual on his favorite horse named Ryan. He would meet Raphael at the village later, but now he was quite busy finding a horse that ran away from the royal stable. The storm last night caused quite a chaos to the stable. He growled annoyingly to himself as he continued riding deeper into the forest. "Ughhh, come on, where are you? You can't be that far away."

As he rode passed the Starry Lake of Europa, he heard someone shouting from there. When he got closer to the source of the noise, he recognized immediately that it was from the turtle he was supposed to meet.

He grinned widely at the sight, not only from being glad for seeing the turtle in red, but also from the hilarious situation Raphael was getting into.

The horse he was searching for was there, chasing Raphael who carried apples in his hands.

"Get away from me, you monster!" Raphael screamed as he skillfully jumped and climbed a tall pine tree to get as far away as he could from the hungry horse. He sat on one of the branches. "This is my breakfast! Find yours!"

The prince couldn't hold any longer, he bursted out laughing. When Raphael saw who it was, he almost fell down the tree. Pink blush appeared on his face.

"Leonardo! I- uh… I-I didn't notice you… h-how long have yo-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the branch he was sitting on broke. He fell with a yelp, but he never hit the ground. The turtle in red found himself sitting on Leonardo's lap with the prince's arms surrounding him. Their faces were very close to each other.

"Phew! That was close. Glad I caught you in time!" Seeing the prince's full smile made him gulped as he couldn't take his eyes off Leonardo. He quickly pushed himself away from the prince, falling onto the ground with a loud thud. "Easy there, Raphael. It's just me!"

Raphael stood up and brushed the leaves off his shirt, trying to act cool as if there was no heat rising up on his cheek. "Ehem… well, thanks… anyway… what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for my missing horse, Spike" he spoke as he got off Ryan. The missing horse was trying to get apples from Raphael again, but this time Leonardo got between them and offered it carrots instead. "But it looks like you already did that for me"

Raphael blushed with embarrassment, thinking of what he got himself into earlier, but didn't say anything. Instead he tried to find a more interesting conversation to talk since he didn't want to talk about horses right now. "So, what do you want to do today?"

After Leonardo finished feeding Spike, turned back to the pirate. "I already showed you my place. Why don't you show yours too?"

Raphael was taken aback. "What? Like my ship?"

"Of course! I would like to see your place! What, you don't trust me?" Leonardo laughed. "Do you think I'll ambush you or something?"

Kind of… was the answer Raphael had in mind. Of course he trusted the prince since he was willing to help him. It was his natural cautiousness that made him be aware of anything. But no, he wouldn't refuse the prince for sure, that would ruin the bond they were trying to make.

Raphael crossed him arms in front of his chest. "Tsk, I know a kind-hearted and charming prince like you won't do such a thing."

"You think I'm charming?" The prince replied immediately with a sly grin on his face, wiggling his brow as he did so.

Raphael's face was redder than a tomato. "No! I mean, yea- I-I mean… j-just shut up!"

As the prince continued to laugh, he slowly hopped on his horse. "Just forget it. Come on, hop on Spike. I think your ship must be very far away. It's good that we have Spike here so you can ride him. There's no saddle though, my guards took it off when it's his bedtime. Your butt is going to hurt a little… "

While the prince kept talking, Raphael's expression turned to pure horror. "You want me to… ride a horse!?"

"Of course! We're not going to walk! Don't tell me you ca—oh, right." Judging by Raphael's characteristics, he looked like a turtle who spent his whole life in the ocean. "Guess I need to teach you how to ride a horse too, huh?"

"Uh-uh, there's no way I'm getting on that thing. No way, nu-uh!"

"He's not going to bite you, just try getting on his back."

With a nervous look at Spike, he sighed since he knew there was no other mode of transportation that was faster than a horse right now. Plus he didn't want to make the prince discontent. "Aw, man"

 **Author's note**

 **I'm terribly sorry for not updating for like a year or so… I was super busy, I still am though, but I miss writing this story. So, I think I'm going to make slow updates once in a while. I think I have lost many readers for the long hiatus… but for anyone who's still here, I'm glad! And I love you guys so much. Without you I wouldn't have motivation to write!**

 **Tell me what do you think of the story so far? I still got many things to cover since I have had the ideas for the story in my mind for so long.**

 **Also, I'm sad the current TMNT series (2012) have ended… and now Nick is making a new one…**

 **Anyways, thanks for supporting!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

"I hate horses!"

Raphael screamed as he tried to balance himself on Spike as he and Prince Leonardo rode through a meadow. Leonardo found the scene amusing and adorable at the same time. "You are doing great, Raphael. Just don't pull his mane!"

With a spare bridle from Prince Leonardo, Raphael was lucky to have something to control the horse, but it seemed he had no idea how to use it. Once again he lost his balance and fell off Spike into the soft meadow below him. Leonardo snickered quietly and ran after Spike to bring him back.

"From now on, the only thing I will sit on, is my ship!" Raphael crossed his arms while still laying on the grass.

After retrieving Spike, Leonardo, still snickering, got off his horse and offered his hand to Raphael who gladly took it. The poor young turtle then crossed his arms, pouting.

Looking around himself, the prince suddenly had an idea popped up in his mind, "Hmm… I think I have a solution for that."

He removed the saddle from Ryan and placed it on Spike instead. What surprised Raphael the most was when the prince softly patted Ryan's face and told him to run back to the castle by himself without him, while doing so, the prince also used weird hand signals to communicate with his horse. What shocked him more was when Ryan obeyed the prince's command right away. Seeing the surprised expression on the younger turtle's face, the prince answered him with a smile.

"Ryan is the most intelligent horse I've ever trained, he never disobeys me," Leonardo spoke with pride.

Raphael rolled his eyes, "and no one will suspect why you're not with your horse? Did you think of that?"

"Of course no one will suspect, I always did that when I want to have some time alone without anyone knowing where I go." As he spoke, he approached Raphael and patted his back, encouraging him to get on Spike. "Now hop up, Spike is ready to go!"

"Spike again!? Didn't you see what he did to me!?"

"Don't worry, we're doing it together this time," Without waiting anymore, Leonardo hopped on the energetic horse, taking his place on Spike's back behind the saddle from Ryan he put on earlier. Before Raphael could ask why Leonardo didn't sit on the saddle, he was pulled up forcefully by the prince. Then next thing he knew was him already sitting on the saddle with Leonardo sitting behind him. When he was losing his balance, letting out a yelp, the older turtle caught him by surrounding one arm around the younger's waist to help him balance. "Whoops, it's okay, I got you."

The pirate didn't reply as he tried so hard to contain his blushing face. The thought of having The Prince of Europa being intimate with a thief like him alone made his heart swell.

"Now, grab the reins and let's go! I'll help you from behind,"

"Uhh… I'm not sure about this…" Reluctantly, the pirate who had never ridden a horse before in his life grabbed the reins.

Without warning, Leonardo took hold of Raphael's hands that was gripping the reins in his and rapped his feet on the horse's side while crying out. "Hyaa!"

With a loud cry, Spike lunged forward with speed. With the determination to succeed, Raphael conquered his fear and let the prince teach him while trying to keep down the fear in his voice as well. "Okay, okay! Tell me his this thing works!"

The prince gripped Raphael's hands tighter while guiding him to how to control Spike. "Just follow my lead!"

They travelled along a beautiful meadow covered in blue poppies in which Raphael was told by Leonardo that these rare blue poppies grown only in Europa. Even though Raphael was not interested in flowers that much, he admitted that the scene was beautiful. He allowed Leonardo to continue taking him to other places in Europa, almost forgetting where they intended to go to in the first place.

As they continued their journey, Leonardo also took him to a high spot in Europa on the hill where they could almost see the whole Kingdom. From afar, they could see the majestic castle and the people doing their daily routine. The scene reminded the pirate of his old life in another kingdom. "I had never admired something like this for a long time… not since… never mind…"

When Raphael didn't continue his sentence, Leonardo felt an urge to ask, but refused to do so since he was certain he would not get an answer. Until the appropriate time, he would ask again. He gave both of them a moment to admire the picturesque kingdom before continuing their journey.

Finally, they travelled through the forest near the ocean where Raphael has anchored his ship there. By the time they got there, the sun was already setting. The younger didn't even realize that he rode Spike by himself by the time they arrived his ship. "Did I just take us to the ship by myself?"

As Leonardo got off Spike, he grinned widely. "I stopped guiding you for some time and you didn't even realize it. Hah!"

"I can't believe it! That was the first time in my life riding a horse!" The younger remarked excitedly as he also got off the horse.

"You are quite a fast learner, Raphael. I admire that." The prince gave Spike a carrot before tying him to the nearly tree.

As a thank you, Raphael gave the prince a grateful smile. He grabbed a wooden plank that was resting on a tree and put it down to connect to path between the ship and the high ground they were standing on. "Come on in, it's starting to get cold, I'll prepare something for you. I hope it will be luxurious enough for a prince like you."

"Heh, no worries about that. I'm sure I've tasted something that will be worse than your cooking." Leonardo snorted, following Raph to the wooden plank.

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult." The pirate replied with a laugh hinted in his voice as he crossed the plank.

"Nah, I'm just teasi— Whoaa—'' The prince didn't realize how high he was from the sea water until he stepped on the plank. The wooden plank that was connecting the ship and the hill behind him was just quite thin and weak. Frightened by this, he froze in place as he tried to balance himself.

"Are you okay, Leonardo? Don't tell me you're afraid of heights!" Raphael crossed his arms as he chuckled, waiting for Leonardo to continue crossing.

With fear in his voice, he replied with a sheepish smile. "Ehh… n-not actually. C-Could you h-help me a l-little…? Ahh!"

Suddenly, Leonardo lost his balance and fell into the water. The pirate, thinking that the prince was just playing with him, snickered and glanced down at the spot where Leonardo just fell. "Come on, I know you're not that clumsy. You're getting yourself wet for nothing!"

When he didn't see any sign of life on the water, he started to panic. "L-Lenardo? Prince!?"

Without thinking anymore, Raphael jumped into the cold ocean.

-.-.-.-.-.-

More firewood was thrown into the burning flame setting in the middle of Raphael's ship. The prince sat quietly by the fire to warm himself up after Raphael rescued him from drowning, wrapping in a blanket that the turtle in red gave him. The pirate sat a little distant from the prince to give him private space.

"Thank you, Raphael, for saving me." A sudden voice broke the silence caught Raphael's attention. When he glanced at Leonardo, the said turtle still had a frown on his face.

"Glad I could help… but… Leonardo" Raphael replied with reluctance to continue the conversation while rubbing his hands together to ease the cold. "It's nothing to be ashamed of…"

"Of course it is!" The proud prince snapped back. "I'm a prince, heir to the throne, the kingdom depends on me. I should be able to do everything!"

Raphael sat in silence, letting the prince release his anger.

"And now you know my secret. This is so embarrassing…" The prince ducked his head down in shame.

The younger turtle, feeling a little braver, shifted his position to be closer to the prince and put his cold hand on the prince's shoulder. "One thing I learned from being by myself with a bunch of idiots, it's that I don't let one fear destroy who I am, despite how embarrassing it may seem."

Glancing up, he saw Raphael turned his gaze away from him, not daring to meet the prince's eyes as he tried to keep his face straight from showing too much emotions. The prince knew Raphael wasn't a turtle who would express his emotions to anyone easily, but was glad Raphael didn't sympathize him with pitiful look. That was the last thing he needed. With a reassuring smile, he patted Raphael's shoulder in return.

They didn't realize how close they sat beside each other. By the time their eyes met, they faces were only inches apart. Raphael, before he started to get lost in Leonardo's eyes, turned away, too ashamed of his status and also his growing feeling towards the unreachable, noble prince.

Leonardo, who got lost in his emotions, realized his action. He was shocked that he got carried away so easily. It was not the right thing to do, he told himself, feeling attracted towards a thief especially when he was also a _male_ like him. But still, when he glanced at the turtle beside him, he didn't just see a thief anymore after spending such joyful time with him. He saw someone who he longed for in his life, someone those princesses couldn't be, someone he could trust with his life.

It would still be too fast to conclude that his emotions were certain, but in this moment, it was enough for him to say that this was _love._

 **Author's note**

 **I made another update! I know the previous chapter was somehow too short, but I made it longer in this one.**

 **I have a draft for the whole story already, so I think the updates may be a little faster. No promises though XD**

 **But don't worry, I'm working on other chapters right now, but before that, enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to tell me how it is doing so far!**

 **Thanks anyone who's still with me or just discovered my story. Love you!**


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